No. 7 Gauchos Open Big West Play with Win Over Defending Champions No. 23 UC Irvine

Sophomore Waid Ibrahim scored the lone goal Sunday evening on a penalty kick in the 21st minute leading No. 7 UC Santa Barbara past defending Big West Champion No. 23 UC Irvine in both team's league opener at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium.

The Gauchos improve to 6-2-1 overall and jump out to a 1-0-0 start in Big West play. The Anteaters drop to 6-3-0 and 0-1 in conference.

Neither team took a shot prior to Ibrahim's penalty kick in the 21st minute. In the remaining 24 minutes of the first half, UCSB out-shot the Anteaters 6-1, but the score remained 1-0 as Irvine goalie Victor Chinchilla made all three of his stops during the first half.

The roles reversed in the second half though, with Irvine out-shooting the Gauchos, 9-2.

Irvine had several great scoring opportunities in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Kevin Santora beat his defender and was able to get a shot off, but it went wide to the right.

Just a minute later, Jonathan Prieto got an open look at the goal, but Gaucho goalie Sam Hayden made a diving save to keep the UCSB advantage.

In the 80th minute, Spencer Thompson broke away from the Gaucho defense and was one-on-one with Hayden, but his shot soared wide to the right of the cage.

Hayden made his most impressive save of the evening in the 83rd minute when Carlos Aguilar fired a shot to his weak side. Hayden dove and made the stop and then quickly secured the ball before another Irvine player could deflect it.

During the game, Hayden made a total five saves, a new season-high. David Walker and Michael Tetteh led the Gauchos with two shots apiece. Jonathan Prieto led Irvine with three shots.

UCSB will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 2 when they take-on 2004 College Cup foe Indiana in a nationally televised game on Fox Soccer Channel. First touch is scheduled for 8 p.m. The Gauchos will celebrate the five-year anniversary of that College Cup appearance and the 2004 team at halftime of the match-up.

To purchase tickets to UCSB's soccer games and all other Gaucho events, please call (805) 893-UCSB, visit the Ticket Office located inside the Intercollegiate Athletics building on campus or click here.

The Golden Scarf: A New Tradition
To reward and recognize our loyal soccer supporters, we will present the "Golden Scarf" to fans who have donated and/or purchased season tickets for five consecutive seasons. The scarves will be presented during a special ceremony at the October 2 game vs. Indiana.